


Lirloir

by BluePlanetTrash



Series: Werewolf Lance [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Animal Transformation, Comfort/Angst, Gen, Hurt Lance (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Langst, Pain, Scared Lance (Voltron), Werewolf Lance (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-19
Updated: 2019-04-19
Packaged: 2020-01-16 05:33:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18514921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BluePlanetTrash/pseuds/BluePlanetTrash
Summary: After being bitten by a creature on a planet, Lance starts to change. One night during a full moon he finally transforms but he didn't know that it was going to happen.





	Lirloir

**Author's Note:**

> If you hate the spacing, just know that I will always hate it more than you.

They were on Enguawei for a completely different reason when it happened. They were just supposed to make an appearance, they weren’t supposed to be saving the day. As it turned out though, that's what usually seemed to happen anyway. Almost immediately after they made their appearance, a couple of beasts charged into the little town and started wreaking havoc. Coran and Allura made quick work of evacuating the civilians while the paladins split off to face the monsters.

They were quickly separated; Keith, Hunk, and Pidge chasing one through the town while Shiro and Lance ran further into the woods to draw it away from the other. It seemed like things were going in their favour for once; they were fighting in sync and were able to communicate with only a few words. That is until they lost sight of it, they glanced around nervously at the clearing they found themselves in.

They heard a rustle in front of them and Shiro crept forward, his arm lit up. Lance evened out his breath, his gun trained over Shiro’s shoulder. As he kept his line steady, he heard a slight crunch from behind him. He turned just in time for the beast’s jaw to lock down on his shoulder instead of his head.

He let out a shriek, dropping his rifle and grabbing the fur around its neck instead.

“LANCE!”

Shiro shot forward, his arm burning. His eyes were blazing with fury as he plunged his arm in the creature’s side. It let out a shrieking howl, unlocking its jaws from Lance’s shoulder. He dropped to the ground with an agonized moan, curling up. He threw a pained look backwards, he didn’t want to leave Lance by any means but he had to take care of whatever it was that attacked him.

“I’ll be right back buddy! I’ll be right back!” He turned back to the monster, it licked at the wound in its side before narrowing its eyes at Shiro and letting loose a snarl.

“You’ll pay for that,” he muttered to himself. He launched himself toward the beast, his arm up to semi-protect himself. He expected the fight to go many ways, he’d charge at the beast and overcome easily or maybe it would get the win instead. What he didn’t expect was for it to grab him by the arm.

It dug its teeth in and flung him back into the forest. He rolled with a grunt, skidding before he could orient himself back up. By the time he was able to, it was already gone. He looked around frantically for a moment before shaking his head and running back to Lance. 

He was already struggling to push himself up.

“Lance, calm down for a second,” he said, crouching beside him. Lance huffed out a breath both nodded, relaxing to the forest floor. He pulled bandages from his emergency kit and quickly wrapped his wound and put it in a sling to help stabilize it before gently helping him up, his arm going around Lance’s back to support him.

“Let’s get you back to the Castle buddy,” he assured him, glancing around for any sign that the beast was coming back. They started back the way they came. The bushes were trampled and branches were broken off; evidence of their fight. For the most part, they were quiet, too afraid that they would be caught unaware; and with one of them injured, it would spell imminent death for the two of them.

Suddenly, Lance let out a shriek, his hand flying to his wound. He stopped in his tracks, his body trembling violently at the new sensation.

“Lance! What happened!?” Shiro demanded, his eyes wide. He shook his head frantically, his teeth grinding together. “Lance, I need you to talk to me,” he pleaded.

“I don’t know,” he choked, squeezing his shoulder painfully, “it just started burning, it feels like its gonna fall off or something,”

“Can you walk?” He asked, supporting him with an arm behind his back. Lance shook his head, trying to push Shiro away.

“I can walk, I’m not weak,”

“This isn’t about being weak Lance, if you need help, please tell me,” Shiro argued, gently holding him. Lance went to argue again, but another spasm of pain went through him and it took all he had not to crumple at the knees.

“Lance!” Shiro yelped. Lance growled, a bit angry at himself.

“I can’t walk,” he finally admitted, looking up at Shiro with tearful eyes. Shiro only nodded and carefully picked him up.

“Hold on, we’re almost back,” He promised, cradling Lance carefully. He was careful to keep his steps pretty steady, hoping to not jostle Lance as much as possible. He could see the castle now, thankfully the elevator was still descended, waiting for its occupants to come back.

“Lance, I need you to call the bridge and have them get a pod ready for you, tell them what you’re feeling, anything you can,” he suddenly commanded, beating himself up on the inside for not doing it sooner. He just barely felt Lance nod and shakily lift up to his helmet.

“Calling the Castle of Lions, we have a situation,” he said.

“Lance, what’s wrong?” Allura asked, her voice on edge. Perhaps, she could hear the exertion in his voice, or maybe they had been gone longer than they thought. Both were equally as possible.

“We found the monster, we took care of it but it got me on my shoulder, we need a pod,” he listed off with a wince.

“Coran,”

“On it,”

“What else is happening? Blood loss? Pain?” She asked, her tone portraying the worry that she felt.

“Definite blood loss, yes pain, it’s starting to burn I don’t know if that's normal, I never really been bitten by anything before,” Lance listed off, letting out an awkward laugh at the end.

“Is it a constant burn? Or does it go in and out?”

“In and out, a minute ago I probably wouldn’t have been able to talk to you,” he relayed, checking the bandage. Thankfully, it didn’t seem like it was bleeding through. The burning was what he was worried about. It could be infected, although signs for infections usually take a week or two to show. But he wasn’t medically trained either, it could be anything.

“What’s your ETA?” Allura asked, knocking him out of his musings.

“About a minute? We’re just outside, Shiro’s been working on his running,” Lance commented, winking up at Shiro. He rolled his eyes good-naturedly and snorted as the doors closed on them. Coran met them half-way to the infirmary and ran back with them.

“Now, let’s take a look at that shoulder,” Coran said, a pair of scissors in his hand. A new pod suit was sitting on the table beside him.

“Do we really have to cut it off?”

“Unless you’d rather try and lift your arm to pull it off?”

“You’re right,” he sighed, letting Shiro help him onto the table. He kept his complaints to a minimum as they tore into his suit and painstakingly peeled it away from his wounds. Fortunately, it hadn’t dried enough for it to be too painful. He blushed as they started peeling the bottom half of his suit off, leaving him in only his boxers. Shiro helped him into the suit and swiftly pulled it up to his waist as Coran looked over the bite mark.

“It doesn’t look like there's any debris stuck in the wound surprisingly, we’ll have to disinfect it before you go into the pod though,” he commented, reaching underneath the table for a bottle.

“Okay, hey where is Hunk, Keith, and Pidge?” He asked, glancing around the medical bay.

“The last thing I heard, they were on the trial for another one of those beasts,” he informed them, testing the bottle with a few test sprays. He turned to Lance, gently cradling his shoulder. Lance let out a hiss as the substance sunk into the wound.

“There were go, all set,” he nodded his head towards Shiro, who helped him get the rest of the suit on.

“How long will I be in there?” He asked hesitantly.

“It shouldn’t be too long,” Coran assured him, “perhaps a couple of ticks to make sure that there's no chance of infection,”

“Okay,” he sighed, trudging into the pod.

“We’ll be right here when you get out,” Shiro promised with a calm smile. Lance gave him a bright one in return as the barrier rose up. He watched the two of them for a few seconds before everything faded to black.

* * *

 

True to his promise, he was there when Lance woke up… only looking far worse for wear.

“Oh thank God, you’re okay,” he breathed out in relief.

“Uhh yeah, did something happen? Or what?” He asked in confusion, looking around to see that the whole team was passed out somewhere in the medical bay.

“You didn’t wake up when the timer counted down and we couldn’t drag you out either,” Shiro explained, looking him over for any signs of damage. He sighed after ensuring that he was fine.

“We decided to camp out here until you woke up but I guess they were too tired,” Shiro smiled tiredly. “You can head back to your room if you want or have a little slumber party with us,”

“You did not just call it a slumber party,”

“You’re mistaken because I did just call it a slumber party and you can’t stop me,”

“How are you the leader of Voltron?”

“Hey, I didn’t choose to be leader, take it up with the Princess,” Shiro teased, punching Lance lightly on his uninjured arm.

“Yeah, yeah,” he waved it off, clambering onto one of the examination tables.

“Good night Lance,”

“Night Shiro,”

* * *

He’d like to say that everything after that went back to normal, but that would be a lie. A full out lie. But at the same time, he didn’t know what was happening with him. It just seemed like things were weird. He was kind of angrier? And he was getting cocky, and not the normal kind of cocky. Like he would insult his teammate’s performances, literally for no good reason. They were starting to get pissed off at him, and he was starting to get pissed off at himself.

It was confusing, to say the least. The only time he felt remotely better was during training or during battle. It was like getting rid of something that’s been on his shoulders for a long time. Usually, he’d do an extensive spa session or something to destress but lately, he couldn’t sit still long enough to do it and the smell of them was starting to bother him for no reason.

Things got even weirder one day during training. Like usual they were pitted against the gladiators with Coran and Allura yelling encouragements and instructions down at them. Every hit that the gladiators got on him was fuelling his rage. He was grabbed from behind suddenly and he growled lowly, kicking the bot away from him as he wrestled the staff out of its hands. In anger, he brought the staff down over his knee. A split second before it connected he felt a slight shock of fear, knowing that he was probably about to shatter his kneecap.

That didn’t happen though.

He snapped the bot’s staff in half, without a modicum of effort. He blinked, holding the two halves in his hands dumbly. Barely realizing that someone called an end to the training session, most likely Allura or Coran.

Lance looked over at the training bot and saw that its chest was sparking and smoking.

“What the hell just happened?” Pidge asked, her voice drifting over to him. She looked between the staff in his hands to the smoking gladiator. There was a moment of silence before

“WHAT THE FUCK!?” She yelped, running first over to the bot to see that there was a hole straight through the chest then over to Lance to look at the still sparking staff piece.

“HOW DID YOU DO THAT!?”

“I DON’T KNOW!” He yelled, freaked out.

“You punched a hole straight through the gladiator's chest,” she argued, pointing at the downed bot.

“Well, actually I kicked it,”

“Whatever, when did you get so strong, I’ve only seen Shiro be able to do that and that’s with his prosthetic,”

“Look, I don’t know, I barely realized that I even did it,” he lamented.

“Can you do it again?” Keith asked, sliding up with another staff clutched in his hand. Lance looked at it for a second before dropping the pieces and taking the new one. He took a deep breath and held it for a second before he let out a battle cry and bringing it down to his knee.

“OW! FUCK! SHIT!” He cursed, dropping the staff and hopping on his now, one good leg, cradling his throbbing leg in his hands. He whined, sliding to the ground with his injured leg in the air.

“I’m guessing your superhuman days are now over?” Keith asked, crouching beside him with a faux pout.

“Shut up Keith,” he hissed, clenching his eyes shut.

“Are you okay Lance?” Shiro asked, crouching on his other side. “Do you need to get into a pod or anything?” At first, it seemed like he was concerned but he could see the faint amusement tickling his eyes.

“Nah, I’m fine. Nothing a bit of whining on the training room floor can’t fix,” he said, giving him a thumbs up. “Hopefully, anyway,”

“So, when are we allowed to laugh about this?” Hunk asked, raising his hand. Lance groaned, glaring half-heartedly at him for a moment before sighing.

“You can laugh now I guess, I don’t really care,” 

“Wow, you’re my hero,” Pidge teased, sitting down beside him, “but for real, are you okay?”

“It hurts like a bitch, why the hell didn’t that work?” He groaned, throwing himself back on the ground.

“Maybe it was adrenaline?” Hunk suggested with a shrug.

“It makes sense, crazy things have happened when people are high on adrenaline,” Pidge nodded thoughtfully.

“Or maybe Lance has super strength now,” Hunk gasped, looking over at him with sparkling eyes. Lance snorted shaking his head.

“I doubt it, why would I suddenly get super strength anyway?” He asked.

“Maybe Blue wanted to share some with you or something. Look, we’re in a giant space castle and we form a giant lion robot, it’s not like it would be too out of the ordinary for us,” Keith chimed in, leaning back.

“Okay, you got me there,” Lance admitted with a small grin, “uhh, while we’re all here I also want to apologize for the way I’ve been acting lately, I don’t mean it. I don’t know what’s happening to me honestly,” he said honestly, sitting up to look at all of them.

“Aww, are you finally going through puberty?” Pidge teased light-heartedly. Lance snorted, pushing her over with his foot.

“Like you can say anything, besides I already went through that part of my life thank you very much. Anyway, I’m gonna try and get a handle on it,”

“Well, thanks for putting in the effort Lance and don’t worry about it, I’m surprised that it's taken this long for someone to get moody,” Shiro hummed.

“Right,”

“Let's move on to team attacks, Lance go get your knee checked out,” Shiro decided, putting his hands on his hips. The rest of them let out a small groan, while Lance gave him a small salute and limped out of the training bay. As he walked back towards the medical bay, he noticed that it was getting easier to walk and by the time he got to the infirmary, it hardly hurt at all.

“Let’s take a look at that knee, shall we?” Coran cheered from behind him making him jump. “Whoop, didn’t mean to startle you,” his grin said otherwise, but he let it slide for now.

“Actually it doesn’t really hurt anymore,”

“Well, that doesn’t seem good,” Coran hummed, patting the examination table for him to get up.

“What? That’s not a good thing? Why not?”

“Your nerves could be shot and it’s making it feel numb,” he explained, carefully rolling up his pant leg.

“No, I can still feel it and everything, it just doesn’t hurt anymore,”

“This is certainly strange but perhaps we shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth and chalk it up to good luck for now,” He said happily, pulling his pant leg down for him. Lance shrugged and hopped off the table, swinging his leg to test it.

“I’d like for you to take the rest of the day to rest though, just to be sure,”

“You got it, Coran,”

* * *

 

“We decided for the benefit of everyone, that we’d take a few days off of Voltron duty,” Shiro announced cheerfully. Immediately, a cheer resounded through the bridge.

“Where are we going?”

“Kithides, the last time that I visited it was a touristing planet,” Allura informed them with a smile. “I contacted some of our allies and it seems that it’s still a safe place to relax, although it’s lost some of its grandeur in recent years,”

“As long as we’ll be able to kick back, it doesn’t matter to me,” Lance commented happily.

“Do you really think we should be having a vacation right now? We’re in the middle of a war,” Keith asked, his brows furrowed. He looked over at Shiro knowing that he’d be on his side. They couldn’t just take a break from fighting a war.

However, Shiro was pouting at him.

“I deserve a vacation,” he grumbled crossing his arms defiantly. Keith stared at him for a moment before sighing.

“Fine, whatever,”

“I mean, not that we needed your permission but glad you’re coming,” Lance said smiling, ribbing Keith with his elbow.

“Shut up,” he said with a pout and a roll of his eyes.

“Anyway, we’ll be staying in the Castle so there's no need to pack anything,” she continued, clasping her hands in front of her in excitement. “However, we won’t be arriving until tomorrow so you’re able to do as you please until we arrive,”

“This is amazing Princess, thank you,” Shiro said gratefully, his shoulders relaxing slightly. A chorus of gratitude came from around the room, making Allura blush bashfully.

“Its the least we could do for all of your hard work, you deserve a bit of rest and relaxation,”

Kithides turned out to be a charming planet, it wasn’t as big as others they’ve visited but it made up for size with a beautiful environment. There were large fields filled with blooming flowers and in the distance, you could see mountains reaching up for the sky. There was a nice little village and a market that they explored to their heart’s content.

But what Lance was most excited for was the beach and ocean that stretched across the horizon. The first day, however, didn’t turn out very good for the blue paladin. As they walked back to the castle that night, he couldn’t help but sulk. He’d gone along with everything everybody else wanted to do all day but they hadn’t asked him what he wanted to do. He kind of thought that it was customary for trips to have at least one thing from each person every day. Guess he was wrong.

He was so deep in his own mind that he didn’t notice when Shiro slowed down a bit to walk beside the pouting teen.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, startling him. He watched him for a second before

“I didn’t get to do anything I wanted to do today,” he grumbled, kicking a stone.

“Oh geez Lance, I’m sorry,” Shiro said sincerely, scratching the back of his neck. “We’ll be sure to do your stuff tomorrow,”

“No, it’s fine Shiro, really,” he said. He didn’t have much he wanted to do, he just wanted to visit the beach for a little while. It wasn’t like they could leave the planet with visiting the beach though and they were there for several more days anyway. It didn’t help that he’d been pretty irritated all day either.

“Hey! We’re gonna watch at the stars!” Pidge called as they got closer to the group. He huffed, he was kind of looking forward to going to bed but he also couldn’t deny that he looked watching the stars, maybe it would cheer him up too!

It darker way quicker than he expected and soon they could see the moon rising. Usually, he was pretty iffy about the moon, he preferred the sun.

But as he looked up at the glowing sphere in the sky. Something in him was calling to it. Something that he never felt before. He stared for a few moments utterly transfixed and all at once everything seemed to rush into him.

His heartbeat was thudding in his ears and his breathing sped up. He couldn’t tear his eyes away but just as the feeling came, it disappeared and he was left panting, hunched over. His stomach gave a nauseous roll and he clambered to his feet.

“Lance! Where are you going!?” Hunk called out to him as he stumbled away. He swallowed thickly.

“I’m really tired, I’m gonna head in,” he answered, trying to sound as normal as he could as he speed-walked back. Hunk watched him for a few moments before shrugging his shoulders and ran to catch up with the team.

He struggled to control the elevator as his stomach started painfully cramping and barely made it to his room without collapsing. He crawled onto his bed, curling up on his side.

He was sweating profusely but he was so cold at the same time. He clutched at his head as pain wracked through it. It quickly spread over his entire body bringing him into a new perception of what torture was.

It was pain like he’d never felt before. He was being ripped apart and squeezed together all at the same time. He didn’t know what to do, he didn’t know which way was up or down. He was trapped in his own body, a prisoner to the pain.

He didn’t know anything anymore and for the entire few minutes that it took to transform, he thought he was dying. He wanted to call out to his family and tell them that he was sorry that he wasn’t coming home.

All at once, all the regrets he ever had came to his mind. He wished he could have gotten along with Keith better.

He wished that he could have told Shiro how much of an inspiration he was to him.

He wished he could have helped Pidge find her brother and end the longing she’d been holding on to for so long.

He wished he could tell Hunk how much his friendship over the years had meant to him.

He wished that he didn’t have so many regrets.

But as suddenly as the pain flared up, it ebbed away. He wasn’t dead. He could hardly believe it. After the sensations, he didn’t know if it was real or if he’d gotten past the point of even feeling it anymore.

He shakily forced himself to his feet, or what he thought were his feet. He looked down at himself and couldn’t recognize himself.

He saw paws with wicked looking claws poking out of them and dark fur that was the same colour as his hair. Looking down his nose he saw a snout with whiskers and a small turn and he could see a bushing looking tail.

He was a wolf and he spent the night curled underneath his own bed, terrified of what he’d become.

* * *

 

Outside his own perception of the world, nothing changed. While his muscles ached angrily, his friends were planning their next day out. They shot ideas off of each other, even Keith seemed to be excited.

“What about you Lance?” Shiro asked. He blinked, looking over at him in confusion.

“What?”

“What did you want to do today?” He asked with a level voice, but his eyes were full of concern.

“Whatever, I don’t really have a preference,” he said quietly, turning back to his food goo. The others glanced at each other, not used to such a morose Lance.

“Are you okay?” Hunk asked, “You said you were tired yesterday,”

“I’m fine,” he swirled his spoon in his goo, mind automatically going back to his transformation. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do. Should he tell his team? Would they even believe him if he told them?

“Lance?”

He lifted his head

“Are you coming?”

He stared at Hunk. Could he afford to try and have fun right now?

He needed to sort this out, or at least try to stop whatever was happening to him.

“Actually no, I’m not feeling too hot,” he conceded with a sigh. He shouldn’t ruin his friend’s vacation, not until he figured out what was happening to him.

“Okay, I’ll bring you back something from the market,”

“Thanks, Hunk,”

“No problem buddy,”

After that he was left to himself, he didn’t know what he wanted to do but he ended up back in bed just thinking about what happened last night and listing off how it could have happened.

  * He was bitten by whatever attacked the village on that planet.
  * He saw the moon last night.
  * And then he transformed into a fucking wolf.



He groaned in annoyance. The only thing he could possibly think of is a werewolf, but obviously, they weren’t supposed to exist. Lots of things he’d already encountered weren’t supposed to be real though; I mean Keith is half alien for god's sake.

Now he was starting to believe that all of Earth’s legends were based on alien species.

He could really do anything else besides thinking about his situation until eventually, he curled back up in pain. So now he realized that he didn’t even need to see the moon to transform. He turned onto his stomach and pulled his pillow over his head, intent to just stay as still as possible.

That is until his door whooshed open with a cheerful greeting from Hunk.

“Stay there!” He demanded immediately, throwing his hand back. Fuck, he forgot that Hunk was gonna stop by after they got back.

“Lance?” Hunk asked weakly. From his demand, he feared that Lance was hurt or something, but he didn’t want to creep any closer either. There was a feeling deep in his stomach telling him that he shouldn’t be near him.

Lance looked over his trembling shoulder, his eyes wide and vision blurring. Through the stinging tears, he could make out the form of his best friend.

“Stay back,” He growled, his teeth grinding together.

“Are you okay?”

“You know what? No. No, I’m not okay,” Lance decided, laying his head in his arms.

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“I don’t know Hunk, I really don’t,” Lance answered, shaking his head. He let out a gasp when a full body cramp took over.

“Do you want me to get Allura or Coran, they might know what’s going on,” Hunk suggested, turning to look at the hanger door.

“No, I know what’s happening, but it sounds… crazy Hunk,” Lance admitted with a heavy sigh. “I don’t think anyone would believe me, or they’d just think I’ve lost my mind,”

“Well, try me,”

“Hunk…”

“No, really, we’re in space, nothing’s impossible here,”

Lance thought about it for a few moments, going over the pros and cons in his head. On one hand, he’d finally admit it to someone, get it off his chest. But on the other, Hunk could think he’d actually gone crazy and he’d be locked up like he was a mental patient.

Okay, maybe that would be a bit dramatic but still, he couldn’t be sure.

“Lance?”

“Okay, fine,” he breathed out, turning on his side to face Hunk, “I think I’m a werewolf,”

Hunk stared at him for a long minute, his brows furrowing every second.

“I’m serious Lance! There’s something really wrong!”

“I’m being serious too! I told you that you’d think I was crazy!” Lance shot back with a glare. “You think I didn’t think I’d lost my damn mind when I realized what happened, I thought I was gonna wake up the next day in a straight jacket,”

“I’m… sorry, Lance, that’s just… crazy,” Hunk sighed, rubbing his temples.

“Look, I know but this is why I didn't want to tell you. I can barely make sense of it myself,” he groaned, pushing his head in his arms. He wished that Hunk would just leave him alone, for his own sake. He didn’t know what it looked like when he transformed but judging from the pain, it wasn’t pretty. He didn’t want him to have to watch.

“Buddy, you should just go,” he said weakly. “I know its gonna happen soon and I don’t think its gonna be the best thing to watch,”

“No,” he stated, resolutely. “I have to be here for you, that’s what friends do. Even if I think you’re a little bit crazy,” he gave him a small smile, though it wavered a little from fear. If it was for him or because of him, he didn’t know. He wasn’t sure if he even wanted to know.

“Fine, but don’t say that I didn’t warn you,” Lance conceded, laying his head back down.

“You got it, buddy,” he said with faux cheer, sitting beside his bed.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have much time with his best friend before he was wracked with pain and shivering in agony. He panted harshly, his eyes rolling back in his head. He scratched into the sheets, vaguely hearing them rip under the strain.

“Lance, what can I do?” Hunk cried in alarm, jumping up from the floor.

“Stay back,” he croaked. “Don’t know what I might do,”

Hunk ground his teeth, before stepping back obediently.

Lance thought that he’d at least be prepared for the pain tonight. He knew what he was supposed to expect but if anything, the pain was worse. He didn’t want to react too violently and frighten Hunk, but the mental strain of trying to cope with it was too much. He pitifully cried out, yelling his pain out for the world to hear.

He was never so relieved that he could turn his room soundproof.

It felt like decades had passed since the pain started but it ebbed away steadily until he was boneless against his covers.

“It’s alright Lance,” he murmured, gently stroking Lance’s coat. “I’m here, you’re alright,” he heard as gentle hands lifted him onto Hunk’s lap.

He weakly lifted his head to peer at Hunk. His vision was blurry and he felt weak; like he was about to flop over. Hunk sniffed wetly at him, he looked so unsteady like all the strength was drained out of him and there was nothing he could do about it but hold him and try to comfort him.

“We need to tell the team,” he stuttered out past hitching breaths. He wiped at his eyes before tears could form, determined to stay strong for his friend.

He pressed his nose against Hunk’s stomach, seeking more comfort.

He was scared it’d be the last he ever got.

* * *

 

The next morning, Lance couldn’t stop shaking from a mix of residual pain and nerves. He clutched onto Hunk’s sleeve, many times he forced himself to let go but he always wound up in the same spot. The two of them already told the team that needed to inform them of something and requested they meet them on the bridge. The only problem was that Lance wasn’t able to force himself through the doors.

“It’ll be fine buddy, I promise,” Hunk tried. He wanted to believe him, he really did. So many crazy things have happened since they shot into space, but the doubt wouldn’t leave him. It was one thing for them to be something that was entirely new but convincing them that he was something that Earth had twisted into a horror film joke by now was going to be a lot harder.

But he couldn’t keep it to himself any longer, especially now that Hunk knew too. He took a deep breath and walked in, Hunk at his side. Immediately, they were the centre of attention.

“Morning paladins, what did you need to talk to us about?” Shiro greeted them with a calm grin. At his silence, Hunk nudged him forward a bit, switching the attention on the two of them to just Lance.

“Are you okay Lance?” Shiro asked his voice now full of concern.

Lance shook his head, the lump in his throat growing. “I don’t think so,” he admitted with a whisper.

“What happened?”

“It sounds crazy,”

“Come on Lance, tell us. It’s the only way we can help you,” Shiro coaxed gently.

He stared at his leader for what felt like hours. It was like he didn’t know what to say, except he practised in front of Hunk for twenty minutes that morning.

“I-I’ve been transforming into a wolf,” he finally stuttered out after looking to Hunk for reassurance.

There was a beat of silence as everyone but Hunk looked at him in disbelief.

“You don’t think…” Allura trailed off, turning to Coran but he was already striding forward to stand in front of Lance.

“You’re sure of this?” Coran asked, his eyes watching carefully.

“Why would I lie about this?” He demanded in anger.

“I don’t think that you’d lie, but it’s very important that you don’t exaggerate or understate your symptoms,” he said calmly, walking over to the database. “Please continue Lance,” he requested giving him a kind look.

“Oh come on Coran, you can’t really be buying this,” Keith groaned looking over at Shiro with exasperation.

“Hush Red Paladin, this is important,” he chastised, his focus never leaving Lance. He hesitated, glancing over at his team. Keith and Pidge looked annoyed and finished with his so-called “charade” but Hunk and surprisingly Shiro were looking at him with concern. Allura, however, was looking at him in some kind of awe. Strange.

“Don’t pay any mind to them right now, tell me what is happening,” Coran coaxed gently. Lance swallowed but nodded his head.

“Last night, and the night before I changed into a wolf, or maybe a dog? I didn’t exactly figure it out,” he started, his hands fidgeting nervously.

“It was definitely a wolf, he was way too big to be any dog I’ve ever seen,” Hunk interjected quietly, coming over to stand by his supportively.

“I don’t know what a wolf or dog is,” Coran hummed, turning to his screen and typing for a few ticks. “Did he look anything like this?” He asked, flicking an image up.

“Yeah, that’s what he looked like,”

“What did transforming feel like?”

The question sent a wave of phantom pain through his body and he wrapped his arms around himself protectively. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to combat the sudden stinging in them. After a moment he forced himself to answer.

“It hurt… so bad,” he confessed, shaking his head. “I didn’t know what was happening, I thought I was dying,”

“I’m so sorry my boy,” Coran said quietly. Although he couldn’t open his eyes to see the man, he could tell he was looking at him with sorrow. “Do you know what triggered the transformation?”

Lance sighed, this already sounded ridiculous as hell; might as well finish. “The only thing I can think of is the full moon,”

Keith and Pidge squawked in indignation.

“Are you seriously going to let him waste our time with this?” Pidge demanded, spinning to face Shiro.

“Keith, Pidge,” Shiro started, his voice full of forced calm. “If you can’t be here to support your teammate, you’re free to leave,”

They both blinked owlishly at their leader before settling down and watching Coran and Lance. Who turned to look back at the blue paladin.

“Continue Lance,”

“The moon was the only thing that was different since Enguawei, it has to be the reason why I’m transforming,”

“Since Enguawei?”

“Yeah, after I was bitten by that monster thing!” Lance exclaimed, flailing his arms out.

“This hasn’t happened before?” He asked curiously.

“No! If it had, I wouldn’t be so freaked out by it!” He cried.

“I see if it’s any consolation I believe I know what you’ve become,” he continued. Lance’s eyes widened, it was that easy? He watched as Coran flicked many images into the space around them.

“They are called Lirloirs, they’re a species of powerful shapeshifters,” he started, switching between pictures of human-like (or altean-like) figures and canines. “They lived alongside us on Altea,”

“So they were able to escape when Altea was destroyed?” Shiro asked.

“It looks like it, I suppose the reason we didn’t recognize them was because they’re supposed to be creatures of good, usually they have marks similar to ours,” Allura stated, brushing her fingertip across her cheekbone. “But the ones we encountered on Enguawei must have been corrupted,”

“So, they are Altean though?”

“Not exactly, but they were considered citizens of Altea. They were welcomed wherever they went and had the same rights,” Coran said, nostalgia building in his eyes. “When the moon is at it’s fullest, it triggers their transformation forcibly but with enough training, they were able to transform whenever they wanted to,” Coran explained flicking through the few pictures they had in their database. “They were considered to be the greatest warriors that Altea had to offer, it was an honour to fight beside them,”

“That’s amazing, but is there any way to get back to normal?” Lance asked after a few moments, hesitant to disrupt.

“I’m not sure my boy, as far as I’m concerned this hasn’t ever happened,” Coran admitted with a sigh. He gently grasped his shoulder and Lance leaned into the comfort. “But we’ll be sure to try and if you want there are several manuals on learning about your new instincts,”

“Yeah, okay,” he nodded his head. If couldn’t go back to normal, he had to get on top of it as quickly as possible.

“I can help you whenever you’re ready, but take your time to adjust, don’t rush yourself,” he implored. “Promise me you won’t rush yourself,”

“Fine, I promise,” he snorted, rolling his eyes in faux annoyance.

“Excellent! Then we’re finished here, however…” he trailed off, looking over at Pidge and Keith. “I am quite curious why you two are so determined to not believe your teammate’s claims,”

Their shoulder’s hunched, trying to make themselves look smaller in front of the disappointed man.

“I’m afraid that’s Earth’s myths at fault,” Shiro said with a frown. “We grew up with stories about mythical creatures, Lirloirs being one of them. We call them werewolves though,”

“How interesting,”

“I’m kinda shocked that you guys weren’t excited at the idea that Lance was a werewolf. You’re an alien Keith and you wouldn’t stop until you proved to yourself that aliens were real,” Hunk frowned, walking back to them. They had the decency to at least look a little ashamed of their actions.

“You’re right, I’m sorry Lance,” Keith said, peeking around Hunk.

“Yeah, sorry,”

“Let’s not think about it right now, we’re still on vacation,” he said, his voice forcibly cheerful. He could see that they weren’t buying it but he hoped that for now, they would play along. Thankfully, they did.

“It’s your turn to choose what we do,” Shiro told him, the rest of the team nodding along with the decision. For now, everything could wait. He just wanted to enjoy a day in the sun before the real work started.

“Let’s go to the beach,”


End file.
